Are You Locked Up in a World That's Been Planned Out For You?
by imtakingallyoudownwithme
Summary: We all know what happened to Lt. Horatio Caine after he moved to Miami. But what happened when he was just a detective in New York, single father of his daughter Emma Caine, and what happens when his daughter Emma gets mixed up with someone she shouldn't be?
1. Chapter 1

According to canon, Horatio Caine was a homicide detective in New York City before transferring to the Bomb Squad in Miami sometime around 1995. As we all know, the originai Law & Order is based in New York City. This is my take on what would happen if Horatio Caine was a homicide detective, working amongst the season four and eventually season five characters in the fictional 27th precinct. Also throw in Horatio's dramatic eighteen year old daughter, drama and romance will ensue.

All CSI Miami characters (Horatio Caine, Raymond Caine, Yelina Salas, Eric Delko and anymore that may appear) are owned by CBS Television Studios, created by Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn & Ann Donahue.

All Law & Order characters (Lennie Briscoe, Mike Logan, Anita Van Buren, Ben Stone, Jack McCoy, Claire Kincaid, Adam Schiff and anymore that may be mentioned) are owned by NBC written by Dick Wolf.

I only own Emma Lee Caine, Jessica Rose Briscoe and any original characters that may come into action.

Lastly, I'd like to clear up ages. In the canon, Mike Logan was born in 1958, Horatio Caine was born in 1960 and Lennie Briscoe was born in 1940. In 1994 that would make Mike 36, Horatio 34 and Lennie 54.

However in my stories I'll be changing the ages, for reasons that will become clear later. Lennie will still be 54. However Mike Logan will be a little younger, he'll be 32 in the story making his birth year 1962. Horatio will be older and not younger than Mike (having a teenage daughter and all) and will be 37, making his birth year 1957. I usually hate it when people change key things from the canon such as this, but it had to be done to make the story work. You'll find out more as the story goes along on why I did this.

Emma Caine's (the main character) age will be 18, making her birth year 1976. Her best friend Jessica is also the same age.

Hopefully that clears a lot up. A lot more will be cleared up as the story goes along obviously, and other key character's ages will be made apparent in the story itself.

Title Credit - She - Green Day


	2. Chapter 2

This part might not make a lot of sense. This first part is what happens WAY later down the track, as a glimpse of what's to come. It's like a movie that shows a scene at the start of the movie that shows the end, or way near the end before beginning properly, showing that one scene again towards the end where it makes sense then.

Big thanks to Bene16 for the review and motivating me to update, yay!

* * *

Have you ever had someone you deeply care about so disappointed with you, that they couldn't' t even speak to you? You would rather them have screamed at you until your ears bled instead of having this pressing silence on your chest? Before this moment, I didn't know I could feel this way. I always hated being screamed at, and burst into tears the second anyone raised his or her voice at me. But I hated this. I felt like I couldn't talk, I couldn't move and most importantly I couldn't breathe. I wanted to break the ice, but I was terrified of the consequences at the same time.

I sharply exhaled and looked over at my father. He didn't notice or chose to ignore it, keeping his eyes sharply on the road ahead.

"We should probably talk about it, you know. There is a whole other story to what you just witnessed." I said to dad, shooting an uneasy sidewards glance as my heart began to race wildly.

"Emma now is not the time to talk about this. I suggest you let me calm down and we can talk in a better environment when I'm not in control of a vehicle." My father responded, using a calm voice that I could tell was very forced. He probably used this tone of voice on his suspects all the time.

He still kept his eyes on the road and wouldn't even send me a sidewards glance, however I did notice his grip on the steering wheel tightened judging by his knuckles turning white.

"I don't get why you barged in when you did. We were talking about stopping this whole affair anyway. If you waited just a little longer you wouldn't have seen anything. Ignorance is bliss, right? We wouldn't be going through this drama right now." I huffed, my previous timid feelings changing into anger as what my father had done had just sunk in.

"Emma Caine! I raised you better than that. You know the truth is the most important thing, no matter the cost. All I can say right now is that I'm disappointed in you for making such poor decisions, but I'm more disgusted in that predator for taking advantage of you." Dad angrily stated, raising his voice for the first time. He sounded exactly like a parent, and I knew this tone of voice was reserved for me.

But now I felt a little better. Anger was something I was used to; I could deal with this better than disappointment.

"The age of consent in New York is seventeen. I'm eighteen. I may not be allowed to drink but I'm technically legally an adult. And it's not like he's fifty." I sulkily replied, crossing my arms over my chest, as I did not like being referred to as a child.

It's probably another reason why I enjoyed his company so much. Well, at least I thought I did until tonight. He treated me like an adult. I wasn't just a cop's teenage daughter. I was an adult to him, I was equal.

Dad only let out a grunt, choosing not to reply. But we were pulling up into the undercover parking of our complex.

No words were exchanged as we exited the car, and climbed the stairs. I was looking forward to going into my room, screaming into my pillow and crying myself to sleep. Not only was dad making this whole situation difficult, the talk I had with the person I thought I was in love with tonight and the revelation of his true feelings had really upset me.

As soon as dad opened the door with his keys, I pushed past and made my way to my room.

"I'm going to bed." I mumbled, not even waiting for a response I knew I wouldn't get as I made my way into my room.

I locked my door, and collapsed onto my bed, not even bothering to change out of my clothes or wash my face. I then began to wail loudly.

I didn't care anymore that Dad would hear me. The cat was out of the bag, so who cares? Not only was the secret out, my heart had been ripped out of me tonight and I'd never felt despair in my entire life.

I no longer felt like the adult he treated me, but a teenage girl who only had obsession. I used to laugh at girls who thought along the lines of what I'm thinking now. But I fell for him hard, and I believed him when he said he loved me. Not only did I realise that the feelings were one sided, I felt stupid for believing his lies. I couldn't even say his name in my head, for fear of losing my mind.

At times I'd stop crying and start to feel a little better. I'd quickly try and think of something else. Maybe Jessica and I could hit up some parties and I'd find a rebound. But then I'd realise why I needed a rebound and start howling again. I don't want a rebound, I only want him.

I have no idea how and why, but eventually I passed out, throbbing headache from the crying.

* * *

The next morning when I woke up, I finally didn't feel like crying. I felt defeated. I was still dehydrated from crying last night so my mouth was parched and I felt weak. I laid on my back for a while, not having the energy or the will to do anything else.

I finally then reached for the phone in my room. I picked up the receiver, but before I could call Jessica's house there was no tone. My phone had been disconnected.

I let out a loud sigh, feeling defeated. It was obvious that dad had unplugged my phone outside my room; probably scared I'd be calling the one person he didn't want me to call. Luckily for him, he was the last person I'd be calling right now.

Knowing I couldn't stay in my room forever, and needing a glass of water I decided to adventure out. I could plug in my phone, grab a glass of water and avoid dad in the process. Maybe if I was lucky a crime was called in and he had to go investigate. Hopefully one smaller scale one, with no real victims where nobody got hurt.

I was out of light crime luck, as I saw dad sitting at the table calmly reading the newspaper.

I knew he knew my presence was there, but I quietly went and plugged the chord back in.

"Who are you calling?" Dad asked me, as I went to the kitchen area and grabbed myself a glass of water.

"Only Jessica. I can even use the phone out here if you want. But beware; it's going to contain a lot of profanity about you and how unfair you are. I can do that, remember I'm a silly teenager who shouldn't be associating with adults." I said sarcastically to my father.

"Emma, sit down. I have something I need to discuss with you." Dad said to me, making eye contact with me for the first time since before the incident.

I stopped in my tracks and debated whether I should continue onto my room or not. I knew eventually we'd calm down and be okay again. But right now I was so mad at his method of catching out the affair, I didn't care about any of that.

I decided to glare at him, but took a seat across the table from him.

"I spoke to both your Uncle Raymond and Aunty Yelina and they've agreed to let you stay at their place in Miami for a week or two. You are right, you are an adult and you can do whatever you wish. You do not have to go through with this. I just really think that due to the current events you should get out of the city for a while." Dad calmly said to me, putting the newspaper down to look me in the eye.

There was the dad I know, it was a caring look, a look he often gave me. Maybe I was wrong about the disappointment; this normal look seemed to stab me in the gut a lot harder than the disappointment did. I even felt guilty about being bitchy to him before.

"I…I don't know. I'd like to talk to Jessica please, to discuss whether the healthiest option would be to face the current situation here first and then take a holiday to Miami, or to take the holiday now to escape." I shakily replied, trying my best to not burst into tears again.

"Okay. Sweetie, you know you're the most important thing in this world to me? I won't lecture you, but I want what's best for you. Do whatever feels right." Dad stated, and I only sent him a weak nod as I took my glass of water and headed back into my room.

I put the phone onto my bed, and took a deep sigh before dialling Jessica's number.

Going to Miami would most likely mean I'd see Eric again. I hadn't written back to him in a while, feeling that I would be cheating if I did so, and knew it was inappropriate.

But now, it feels almost right to be seeing Eric again. I put the receiver down, just as I heard Jessica's bubbly voice answer her extension. I dived for my address book, deciding to call a different number instead.


	3. Chapter 3

"Here you go honey, I saved it for you just as I was putting away food and closing shop. I knew you'd be coming by." The owner of the shop I was currently in said, as she sent me a wink and handed me a plastic bag, a meal inside it.

"Thanks Natasha, you're a legend." I beamed at the middle-aged woman, handing her the exact change, as I had made this transaction so many times before.

I said goodbye as I walked out of the small shop. I knew this woman quite well; I came to this shop a few times a week. I'd usually stop and make small talk but I could tell she was in a rush tonight, she had packed away everything early and although she was polite as usual she was quite brief towards me.

I was too lazy to dig my Walkman out of my schoolbag again, as I now had a plastic bag in one hand, with my school bag slung over the other shoulder. The walk to the 27th precinct was only a few minutes, one of the reasons why I first started coming to the shop.

I tried to dart through the crowds walking down the street, being a little impatient. As it was after five, peak hour was in full swing, with many crowds beginning their commute home. It was the middle of January and I was freezing. I was only coming home from school now, and our uniforms were designed to look good not for warmth. I wanted to get into the police station as quickly as I could.

After accidentally hitting someone with my schoolbag on the way in and apologising profusely, I made my way up the stairs and into the station.

I waited patiently at the front desk, waiting for someone to acknowledge me. I knew most of the uniformed police officers who had shifts manning the front desk, but not all. I was hoping someone I knew would be working it today; I couldn't be bothered explaining who I was and why I needed to see my father.

Luckily I was greeted with a regular, who was in a rush so they greeted me with a smile and said they'd grab dad for me. Score! Didn't have to explain myself or socialise.

I only had to wait no more than a minute, as my dad came out the door that led through to the rest of the police station.

"Hey sweetheart, how was your day?" Dad asked me, engulfing my figure into an awkward hug, as my big schoolbag made it difficult.

"Not too bad. I decided to stay back and study in the library for a while, so when I get home I can crank up the heater and watch television tonight. I'm looking forward to it." I brightly beamed.

Dad sent me a frown, and I cocked my head to the side. Was that a bad thing? Was he saying he wanted me to study when I got home?

"Have you rolled up your school skirt again to make it shorter? Emma you don't need to do that." My dad lectured, and I looked down so he wouldn't see me roll my eyes.

"It gets in the way walking home from school, so I roll it up because it's more comfortable." I lied quickly, using my usual excuse and earned the same old blank stare from my dad.

"Good evening Horatio, Emma." I heard a familiar voice greet, and I turned around to see Lennie Briscoe standing there.

Lennie used to be partners with my dad, a long time ago. They were definitely closer in their youth and partnership, but they were still on friendly terms and occasionally caught up outside work. Due to my father being catholic, and Lennie's second wife being catholic, Lennie sent his daughter to the same schools that I attended. Jessica Briscoe, she was my absolute best friend and Lennie's daughter and my longest friend. Therefore I knew Lennie quite well.

However, a second man was standing next to him. He looked a little younger than my dad, and I turned bright red about the previous conversation with my dad.

"Hi Lennie, Logan." Dad greeted, just as I called out a polite 'hello' as well.

"Mike, this is Horatio's daughter Emma. She's Jessica's best friend." Lennie said, introducing me to the second man. I then remembered Jessica mentioning her father's partner a few times, and realised this was him.

"Nice to meet you." Mike said, offering his hand. Although his actions were polite, he said it with complete apathy that showed he wasn't really interested.

From the corner of my eyes I could see my dad give Mike a disapproving stare, obviously unimpressed with the way it was said. I on the other hand gave him a smirk.

Although there were lots of staff at this precinct and dad was in no senior position whatsoever, everyone thought very highly of my dad. He was polite to everyone including the uniformed staff, and he was good at what he did. Therefore everyone would always gush over me in respect of my father. 'Oh Horatio she's so pretty!' 'Your daughter is absolutely lovely' 'I wish my kids were like you' it was refreshing that for once, someone didn't really care about me enough to not extend conversation.

"Likewise." I replied, adding a little bit more tone in my voice than he did, but still using a near vacant reply, taking his hand.

"So Dad, here's your chicken salad. Not only is it important for your health to have a balanced diet, how are you to catch criminals without a healthy dinner?" I said to my father, handing him the plastic bag with the boxed up meal.

"Thanks sweetheart" Dad responded, giving me a kiss on my cheek.

"This is what I was telling you about that one time. Emma constantly brings in dinner for her father, worried about his health and eating habits." Lennie explained to Mike.

"Well that's nice." Mike responded, keeping it brief.

I only nodded as a response, not really sure of how to reply vocally.

"Where are you two off to, anyway? I heard you have two priority cases, times are pretty tough at the moment." My father asked Lennie.

"There must be something in the water." Mike responded, and I only gave a small smile at his joke, something I realised he had caught, making me blush a little.

"We have a witness we need to question, just around the corner from your block actually. She's refused to be questioned until tonight, saying this is the only time she's free to answer questions. Must be such a stressful life she leads, right?" Lennie responded to dad's question, adding a twist onto the end.

"Oh! If it's not too much to ask, would you be able to drop Emma off on the way? It's quite cold outside, and she has to roll up her skirt apparently as it gets in the way of her walking. I'd hate for her to get sick." Dad asked Lennie.

"Of course. Would that be okay Mike?" Lennie turned to his partner.

Mike only gave a shrug as a response, but beforehand had snickered at my father's comment at my skirt.

"Oh, you guys don't have to. It's okay; it's only a fifteen-minute walk from here. I could even get the subway, it's only two stops and that would get me out of the cold." I quickly protested.

I felt a little uncomfortable accepting a ride from Lennie. If it were only him I wouldn't feel bad, especially considering it's meant to be on the way. But I could tell Mike was a certain kind of person. I couldn't read him well, but he wasn't warm and friendly. Definitely not the kind of person who likes having the presence of an eighteen year old high school senior around whilst he was meant to be working.

"Nonsense, I wouldn't let you catch the subway when it's no trouble to drive you. We don't mind, honestly. But are you ready to go now?" Lennie asked me.

I slowly nodded, not wanting to waste any time arguing as it was obvious he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

I hugged my father goodbye, and told him I'd see him later and then followed Lennie and Mike.


	4. Chapter 4

"It feels like it's been a while since I last saw you Emma. How is school treating you? Are you settling down again after the Christmas break?" Lennie asked me.

Lennie was driving the unmarked police vehicle. Mike was sitting in the passenger seat, whilst I meekly sat in the backseat with knees together, hands neatly in my lap and my seatbelt fastened.

"Yeah, it's heating up again. It's also time to apply to colleges, so that's a bit stressful too." I honestly replied, adding a small smile at the end.

"I see, that is quite a big time in your life. Where are you hoping to gain acceptance?" Lennie asked me curiously.

"Well dad says he wants the best education for me and wants me to continue private schooling outside of high school. Therefore my top two would have to be NYU or U Miami. Of course I'm also applying for public universities as a safety net." I replied, a little shy of how he would take the response.

"Why University of Miami?" Mike asked, breaking his silence since he got into the car.

"Oh um…the only family we've got are in Miami, plus my dad has done undercover work and stuff there and really likes the city. I like it too don't get me wrong, NYU would be my first preference because it's more prestigious and more convenient as I wouldn't have to move." I explained, going bright red by the end as I realised I was beginning to ramble.

This Mike guy made me feel so nervous, I'd hate to be one of the perpetrators he was investigating. His apathy, his blank stare and his general demeanour made me feel uneasy. Maybe I was just used to being cooed at for being Horatio Caine's daughter by the rest of the police force that I wasn't used to being treated like this. But the refreshing feeling of being treated differently had long gone. I felt like he was judging me and thought I was a silly teenage girl.

"Makes sense." Mike shrugged, and turned to look out of the window.

The car was filled with silence for a few moments, until Lennie broke it.

"You guys both don't mind if I stop into the convenience store to get something to eat? Something tells me it's going to be a big night, so I should eat whilst I can." Lennie asked us.

Both Mike and I informed Lennie that this would be fine, and he pulled over to park at the nearest store he could find. As soon as Lennie jumped out of the car, Mike took off his seatbelt and turned around in the passenger seat to face me.

"You can stop with the act. You're not fooling anybody." Mike said to me, not bothering to sugar-coat whatever his statement was.

"Excuse me?" I spluttered, my shyness fading away as confusion took over.

"The way you're acting is so fake. No teenage girl acts like that. You roll up your skirt, you wear makeup to school. But you act nice in front of adults, and come in to the police station to give your dad dinner and a kiss on your cheek. I'm just telling you that there's no point acting like that in front of me, because I don't buy it." Mike informed me, a hint of annoyance in his tone but outwardly he was sending me a smirk.

I blinked, waiting a few moments for his statement to sink in. Should I be annoyed? What he said was quite rude. I must have felt similar to him, because I felt annoyed, but all I could do was send him a smirk back.

"Yeah, I roll up my skirt as a fashion statement and I wear make-up, because I feel like it. But I am polite to adults because I respect my elders. Do you think you'd appreciate it if I sat here babbling on about make-up and boys and parties, and how hard my life is because like oh my god school sucks? No. I can adapt conversation depending who I'm talking to, because I can empathise and understand how to communicate. My fashion statements have nothing to do with it." I snapped, but kept on smirking as I finished up my explanation.

"Okay, maybe you have some more brains than I originally thought." Mike defended, putting his hands in the air to show he was backing off.

"Don't worry, no offense taken. I've seen how most cop kids are like. They're brats who think they can get away with anything because their mom and dad are cops and will cover for them. To an extent I blame the cop parents though, they know what's out there and try to protect their kids from harm's way, but don't realise being overprotective is just making things worse. I'm just lucky I have a dad who isn't afraid to let me see the whole wide world." I smiled.

"Yeah, I can definitely empathise with you there. My dad was a patrol cop, but would not pull any stunts when it came to raising my brother and I. In fact, he badgered me about becoming a cop my entire childhood, teenhood and early adulthood. My older brother was meant to be worthy of the private sector in a high paying job, I was meant to be the cop." Mike explained to me.

"But?" I asked, biting at the hint that there was more to his story at how it was worded. However, I was wrong.

"Well it happened. My brother is a CPA, and I have my badge." Mike grinned, finally an emotion on his face.

I sent him a giggle as a reply, to show him I understood the small humour he was setting up. He was opening up to me to show that I could be considered an acquaintance; even though it was unlikely we would cross paths that often, in fact it was highly unlikely I'd ever see him again. Dad had been working at the 27th precinct for a few years now, and although I'd heard about Michael Logan from Lennie, Jessica and even dad, I'd never bumped into him before.

"So um…do I refer to you by 'Michael' 'Mike' or 'Logan'? I notice it differs, some refer to you as Michael, some Mike and some on a last name basis. What do you prefer?" I asked him.

He looked like he was thinking about it for a few moments, and was silent for a short while before he answered my question.

"I don't really encourage anyone to call me anything, they decide themselves. It's kind of a police thing to refer to someone by their surname if you don't work closely together. Your father calls me Logan, I call him Caine. Whereas the ones I closely work with, my current partner, my old partners, my current supervisor and my previous supervisor sometimes even call me Mikey. So call me whatever you want." Mike shrugged.

"Pig. I'm totally joking, I can joke about that because I'd be insulting my dad if it were true." I giggled, and he cracked a smile.

"Yes, well I know you're joking and you're lucky I am. I don't take it too well when punks seriously call me those disrespectful names. If you were serious I'd slap a pair of cuffs on you and take you down to the precinct, finding any excuse for an arrest." Mike replied, and the added wink on the end made my face heat up again.

If it weren't for the wink I probably wouldn't have felt embarrassed. But the mention of 'cuffs' in the same sentence as a wink could be taken as inappropriate conversation by some. Which is what made it embarrassing the most, as I had no idea how I should be reacting.

"I'll go with Mike then." I mumbled.

"I'll go with Emma for you, then. Most people around the precinct refer to you as 'Caine's daughter' if you're ever mentioned, but now I have a face to the name and I know you personally." Mike stated.

I only nodded as a response. Once again, I was doubtful I'd ever cross paths with him that often.


	5. Chapter 5

Jessica and I took the last two seats at the end of the big table our group had occupied, I sat down and dropped my book bag heavily with a thud, and the attention turned onto Jessica and myself.

"Finally graced us with your presence, eh?" Jason, one of the boys of the group joked, nudging my sides to show he was joking.

"We had more important issues to discuss than who's getting drunk, who's sleeping with who and the alike." Jessica joked back, giving him the middle finger.

Jason was a joker, and was well known by our entire year level for being the class clown and was quite admired by the entire student body. Jessica on the other hand was known for being outgoing and lots of fun, but at the same time didn't take crap from anybody. Because of Jason's reputation of being class clown, Jessica knew he was genuinely joking. He, and perhaps I would be the only ones who'd get away with making a comment like that. If it were anyone else, they would have received a passive aggressive bitchy comment that would have escalated based on their response.

"Speaking of which, my parents have allowed me to use the apartment next week for a party. They're having some gross romantic night, and are hiring a hotel room for the night. They're not going to be home and have given permission for me to hold an awesome party. We've all been discussing it whilst you two went to the police station, are you both in?" Millie asked both Jessica and I.

Millie was your typical private school girl. Her parents owned a big penthouse in the best part of town. Her mother was one of those 'cool moms' a typical trophy wife who did everything she could to stay young and hip, and almost let Millie do whatever she wanted. Her father was a merchant banker who was never home. It was almost stereotypical.

Luckily our group recruited people based on how outgoing they were, how friendly, and what they contributed to the group. Jessica and I weren't the richest kids at the school, but no one had ever bought that up and it didn't matter. Jessica's parents were a little better off than mine – her mother was an interior designer who made a moderate amount of money. Her father was obviously on a detective's pay. Her mother insisted on sending her to our private school, as her mother is heavily catholic. Her dad didn't have any qualms about it, so they sent her there.

My father on the other hand was a single dad, so he only had his detective's pay coming in. Whilst it wasn't as big as someone who worked in the private sector, we made enough to survive and at the same time did not miss out on too much. Dad was also catholic as his roots were from Ireland, but the main reason he sent me to a private school is because he said he wanted me to have the best life possible. It made sense to send me to the same school as Jessica as we had been best friends since we were kids.

"Of course we are." I smiled, and Jessica agreed shortly after me.

"Bye guys. We'll see you on Monday." Millie said to Jessica and I, giving us a hug on the cheek, the last to say goodbye to us as she got into her mother's car.

Everyone had now departed except for Jessica and I, who were now outside the McDonalds in the freezing air.

"I'll call you over the weekend, maybe we should catch up at some point?" I asked Jessica, waving to Millie as her mum continued down the street.

"Aren't you going to the precinct? You usually go there Friday nights to bring your dad food don't you? Or do you use that as an excuse to not do something with me?" Jessica asked, narrowing her eyes at me, but poked her tongue out to show she was mostly joking.

"Hey, you've gone with me sometimes, and I always catch up with you before and after. But no, he's with his partner Hawthorne today doing some questioning in Hoboken, the murder victim had only just moved to Manhattan." I explained to Jessica.

"That's pretty interesting, that's where you were born." Jessica weakly smiled.

"Yeah, I guess because dad knows the area well it gives him an advantage in the case. But in answer to your question, I'm not stopping by the precinct tonight. Why?" I asked Jessica.

"Mum has some presentation for work she's holding in our house tonight, so I switched weekends with dad and I'm seeing him this weekend. Was going to suggest walking to the precinct together, but it's probably easier for you to just walk home from here rather than walk to the precinct and get a ride from my dad." Jessica stated, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'll come. I actually only have a bit of homework this weekend, I had a few tests this week so I'm going through a quiet period for once, this will probably be the last one until the end of the year though, so I have to make the most of it." I explained to Jessica, as we both started walking to the precinct together.

"Nerd. You better be coming to Millie's party though, I'll kick your ass and drag you there if I have to." Jessica said to me, narrowing her eyes and I could tell she was only semi-joking.

"Oh shit I just realised…dad's flying to Miami this weekend to see Uncle Raymond, Aunty Yelina and my cousin Ray junior. I'm not going because I need to study apparently and I'm going with him spring break. So I totally think we should have pre drinks at mine, and rock up to Millie's party already trashed and fashionably later." I grinned at Jessica.

"You're going to Miami for spring break? I am so jealous right now, not going to lie. But in the short term, next Saturday afternoon we'll drink a bottle of champagne because we're classy bitches, maybe start on the vodka or a bottle of jack and then haul the rest to Millie's party. You better hire some good video tapes!" Jessica stated to me.

"Only Jessica Briscoe would make the host have good video tapes. But you're supplying the champagne, I only have half a bottle of Jack left, and that's barely enough for just me let alone both of us." I explained to her.

"Don't you know anything about hosting? It's up to the host to provide entertainment. But it is up to the guest to provide drinks. So I'll be getting one of my connections to buy us a bottle of champagne and a bottle of vodka. It shall be grand." Jessica smiled at me, as we began to walk up the steps of the precinct.

I began to blush for a small second. Jessica's mother had re married since her and Lennie divorced, to a defence attorney (Yep, that's how much she wanted to spite Lennie. Let me just say their divorce was less than amicable) who was raking in big bucks and had no children to spend it on. Jessica's mother was an interior designer as stated before, and was on a more than adequate wage. Therefore although Jessica wasn't filthy rich like most of the students at our school, her allowance was much higher than the one I received from my single father. I was grateful she'd be supplying most of the alcohol next weekend.

"Speaking about underage drinking transactions outside a police station where both our fathers are detectives. Love it." I grinned to Jessica, who sent me a small grin back, knowing that it was now time to drop it as we stepped inside.

I stayed at the back whist Jessica asked the officer on duty of the counter to get her dad for her. Not too long later both Lennie and Mike stepped out, Mike was still buttoning up his long brown coat.

Only Mike seemed to notice my presence, as Lennie immediately went to hug his daughter. He sent me a small smile, to which I replied with a wave.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm so glad you could make it to see me this weekend." Lennie said to Jessica, as he let her go.

"Yeah well, Emma comes to visit Horatio all the time so I thought I'd take a leaf out of her book." Jessica said to Lennie, motioning over at me and he then realised I was in the room.

"Oh hi Emma, how are you?" Lennie asked me, as he wrapped an arm around his daughter.

"Good thanks, how are you?" I asked, my cheeks brightening as I suddenly felt like I was intruding on their family moments.

Jessica only saw Lennie once every two weeks, and she never came to the precinct to visit him. I saw my dad every day, and came to the precinct a lot to see him. I guess I didn't realise how special this moment would be for them both as it was something I did regularly. I now felt a bit out of place, even though we were in a public area.

"I'm not too bad thanks. It feels good to be finishing on a Friday afternoon with the case now in the DA's hands." Lennie replied, to which I only sent a smile as my reply.

"Is it okay if we drive Emma home? It's really cold, and I did make her accompany me to the station." Jessica asked her father.

"Of course it is. I made dinner reservations at that restaurant in Brooklyn you always loved as a kid. Julia is also coming with Jacob and Alexandra, but unfortunately Cathy couldn't make it. The reservation isn't for a while though, we shouldn't be too short on time." Lennie said to Jessica, adding a smile at the end as he looked over at me.

I immediately felt even worse. One of the reasons Jessica and I bonded so well (Aside from the fact that our fathers used to be partners) was because both of our families were dysfunctional if you will. My dad had just turned nineteen when I was born, and was just a patrol cop. My mother died shortly after I was born, so I grew up without a mother figure.

Jessica's story is a lot more complicated though. Lennie is a recovered alcoholic, however his alcohol problems is what caused his two divorces. In his first marriage he had two children, Julia and Cathy who are quite a bit older than Jessica, with Julia being married to a guy called Jacob and they had a daughter named Alexandra. Due to his alcohol problems Lennie didn't have much to do with Julia and Cathy growing up, and as adults their relationship was strained. As Lennie started recovering when Jessica was quite young, he got to form a bond with her as a child. Out of his three children him and Jessica were the closest. Jessica wasn't too close with her half sisters, but she was closer to Julia than she was with Cathy, Cathy was a meth junkie who was in and out of rehab a lot.

Which is why I felt really guilty when Lennie is offering to drive me home. It's so rare for them to have a family outing, why should I hold them up just so I can get home? I could always walk or get the subway, it's not like I was stranded.

"No, don't be silly. Besides it would be good to walk. I still have to exercise some of that Christmas baggage off." I weakly smiled, hoping they'd fall for it.

"The only thing silly would be you walking home in this weather. Really, we don't mind." Lennie argued.

I opened my mouth to continue protesting; however before I could say anything Mike spoke up. I had completely forgotten he was with us, and started to feel a bit more at ease as I felt a bit less intrusive.

"Don't worry about it Lennie, I'll drive her home. I remember where she lives and I'm going that way anyway." Mike said to Lennie.

"Are you sure Mike? It's no big deal either way." Lennie said to Mike.

"I can walk guys, really. It's not like it even takes that long…" I replied, feeling grateful that Mike would offer to drive me, but feeling a little uncomfortable that they were treating me like a five year old and almost talking like I wasn't there.

"Awww cute, she's thinking she has a choice in the matter. Besides Emma you can't walk, your skirt is too short. You'll freeze.' Mike stated.

A few things happened after this statement. I rolled my eyes at the way he addressed me and spoke once again like I was a five year old. I also automatically pulled my skirt down, and mentally scolded my father for bringing it up in front of Lennie and Mike, I was never going to live this down. Jessica also shot me a look, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what look she was going for.

"Let's go." I mumbled, gripping my schoolbag slung over my one shoulder tighter as I couldn't decide what emotion to feel, or how to react.

I was nervously drumming my fingers on the car door on the ride to my house. Saying it was awkward would be understatement of the year.

I had no idea what to talk about. I had no idea who he was, other than he was a detective, he had a cop father, and he for some reason was driving near my building originally, or so he says.

Let's see what conversations could arise from that. "What case are you working on right now?" Whilst some detectives absolutely love bragging about how intelligent they think they are, most detectives don't like talking about work outside of work. Even my father, the kindest man in New York City keeps tight lipped about his cases to everybody except me, afraid of jeopardising the case he's working on. "How's your family going?" Quite rude to ask as I don't know Mike personally per say, and the same would be said about me asking about where he was going tonight.

So I was wracking my brains out trying to think of a topic to talk about. I didn't expect Mike to start the conversations because why should he, and I'm sure any conversation led by him would be patronising.


	7. Chapter 7

"So I'm curious. What does someone your age with your background do on a Friday night?" Mike asked me, turning to me as we were now stuck in a major traffic jam.

"I uh, wait. What do you mean?" I asked, narrowing my eyes, as I couldn't be sure exactly what he was trying to say.

"Well, I could ask what teenage girls your age do on a Friday, but as you've all been exposed to different factors you all do different things. That's a lot coming from a detective, because we all can't stand teenagers and like to stereotype you as negatively as possible." Mike stated, but chuckled a little at the end to add some humour to his otherwise true statement.

"That's an odd statement to make. I'm sure you were young once, and not even that long ago. How old are you, anyway?" I asked, crossing my arms subconsciously as I began to feel a little uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you manners? Asking a person's age could be considered quite rude." Mike teased.

"No, not really. My mother died a month after I was born. My father, being a single father and wanting to pursue a career of justice has worked hard his entire life and didn't really have time for formalities. I mean yeah, he raised me to the best he could and taught me right from wrong, but it was never an in depth lesson into manners." I replied coolly, but smiled a bit to show I wasn't actually offended.

Most people backed down at this point. I absolutely hated it when people teased me about things like what Mike had said, so I always pulled out the 'my mother died, my father walked hard' line and they shut the hell up. But with Mike, it was different. He was teasing me for the sake of teasing, not because he wanted to put an opinion across and made it out like it was a joke to make the opinion seem less harsh. Therefore I was less harsh in my reply.

"You make a fair point. I'm thirty two." Mike replied.

"Wow! Seriously? That's like, pretty close to my dad's age. That's weird." I replied, scrunching up my nose.

"Emma, you're not doing a good job to try and protect your reputation of not being your typical moron teenager. Besides, why is it weird I'm your dad's age? Lennie is a lot more past your dad's age, is that weird?" Mike asked me, and began to slowly move the car forward as the traffic was finally beginning to move just a little.

"Yeah, that's true. I don't know, this is going to sound silly but here it goes. Most of the cops are the precinct treat me like I'm an infant. You're the first person, besides Lennie to treat me like an equal. I guess I just assumed you were closer to my age rather than my father's age." I shrugged, my face heating up as I picked my words carefully.

"Yeah, but we've had this conversation before, and even previously today. Cops just automatically want to protect the young and vulnerable, which you fall under being so young. Don't get me wrong; I don't think eighteen is that young. In other countries you're old enough to drink, and in this country you can now gamble, vote and join the military. It's double standards. We push for younger perpetrators to be tried as an adult, yet we treat people the same age as a child." Mike explained to me.

"You're right I guess. It's different though…in Miami my uncle and auntie are both detectives and both of them have taken me into the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. It's completely different, although our conversations aren't as coherent as the ones we've been having, they don't talk down on me and haven't since I was about fourteen years old. Maybe it's because they're not my parents, but still." I explained to Mike.

"Maybe, who knows? Anyway I'm sure you're not going to the Miami Crime Lab tonight, so answer the question. What are you up to tonight anyway?" Mike asked me.

"Not tonight, but I am going to Miami for spring break so that'll be fun. Tonight though, I'm going to turn up the heater and read a book in bed. Living life on the edge." I joked sarcastically.

"Hm, I'm going to ignore tonight then because that is quite boring. Miami for spring break sounds interesting though. What can an underager do during spring break at Miami?" Mike asked me, as he moved his eyes back onto the road as the traffic was now moving enough to roll along slowly.

"Drink, obviously. There are things called fake IDs and older people to buy you alcohol. However this underager will be studying, and probably babysitting her two-year-old cousin. I don't even know anyone in Miami to party with." I said to Mike, unsure of how to properly reply. He's a cop, so I was expecting him to lecture me. But at the same time I felt a little easier saying this to him than I would Lennie, for example.

"You want to save your energy for college anyway, trust me." Mike stated to me.

"Are you advocating that although I'll be in college and perhaps more responsible, I should still underage drink and engage in wreck less behaviour because you're socially meant to do that stuff, and it might be perhaps fun?" I grinned, deciding to tease Mike again.

"As an officer of the law I strongly advise against it, as I am tired of cases dealing with young college aged students and alcohol which can easily be avoided. But as someone who's been to college, I strongly recommend it." He grinned, however he didn't face me as he kept his eyes on the road to slowly move forward.

"I'm telling my father you said that, I'm going to dob you in." I said to Mike, dropping my grin to be completely straight faced.

"Hey, I stated my position and told you to not do it. I'm allowed to tell you as a human being to go have fun." Mike said, defending himself.

"Naw, I wouldn't talk about that stuff with my dad anyway. How awkward." I replied, scrunching up my nose.

"Are you guys close?" Mike asked me curiously. I could tell he was curious by the fact that he blurted it out the second he could ask, instead of cleverly working it into conversation. He was so curious he didn't even bother hiding it.

"Um, yeah we are. We're pretty much all each other have. My grandparents on my mother's side disowned by mother when she got pregnant so I've never met them. My grandparents on my father's side died a long time before I was born. Auntie Yelina, Uncle Raymond and Ray Junior live in Miami so we don't get to see them a lot. I sometimes feel he isn't looking after himself properly because he's too busy catching criminals, so I do it all for him." I proudly stated.

"It probably doesn't count for much, but I'm sorry to hear you and your family aren't close. It's probably more than inappropriate to say, but I always wished my dysfunctional family weren't close so I could pretend they didn't exist. Besides my father, I would have taken a bullet for him." Mike admitted to me, as the traffic was now moving at a reasonable pace again.

"It probably is inappropriate, but I don't care. After hearing the same regurgitated replies when people find out that stuff that they don't even mean, I like hearing something from the heart. Even if it's about your situation." I smiled, and Mike flashed me a quick smile back before turning his attention back onto the road as traffic was now back to normal and we were nearly at my apartment block.


	8. Chapter 8

There were lots of little rules when it came to Jessica. Half of them were made up on the spot, she was so high maintenance. I only had two main ones when it came to associating with her.

The golden rule was to call her Jessica. Never Jessie, never Jess and never any other variations. She stated that Jessie was a boy's name, and every girl with the name Jessica always liked to be called Jess and she was kind of a big deal. She also stated Jessica was a nice feminine name, whilst Jess was too trashy.

The second rule was a little rule that everybody followed by. When you make plans with Jessica, plan it out that she's most likely going to be late. I don't think she was unreliable, I think she just had a poor grasp on how long she took to do things.

This is why I was shocked when I opened the door an hour earlier than planned to see Jessica staring back at me grinning.

"Did you just get out of bed or are you going to Millie's party like that? I heard the pyjama look is in this season." Jessica joked as she walked into the apartment and set a few plastic bags on the table.

"Jessica, don't you know fashion at all? During winter you shop for spring, and sex hair is so in for spring." I winked, earning a very unattractive snort from Jessica.

"So how long is Horatio in Miami for anyway?" Jessica asked me.

"I dunno. He only really said the weekend. I don't even think he has booked his return yet. I don't think he's just going for family though. I think he's in talks with MDPD about a job," I replied, and explained when Jessica gave me a blank stare "Miami Dade Police Department"

"Oh why? Is it something to do with his undercover work for them four years ago when you stayed with us?" Jessica asked me.

"I think so. He's kinda vague with me about this. I don't think he wants to tell me until he's absolutely certain. At the very least I'd be finished school so I can decide to go with him or stay here." I shrugged, wanting to breeze this conversation through. I did not want to think about having to choose between abandoning my friends or my father.

"Ah well, who cares for now. All we should care about right now is the fact that it's still in the AM but we're about to start drinking. I bought enough alcohol to last us all day and all night." Jessica winked, motioning to the bags she bought.

She obviously knew I was already torn up about having to think about this, and needed to distract me as well as cheer me up. All I could do was crack a smile, what a great best friend.

I felt nervous as I entered the elevator in Millie's apartment complex. Jessica and I didn't go to many drunken teen parties, as they were hard to hold in apartment complexes without getting busted up by police. Our group sometimes had little drinking gatherings in Central Park but even then you had to be wary of foot patrol cops, as well as other drunks and drug addicts.

As Millie lived in a very soundproof top storey penthouse I felt a little more at ease, however I wouldn't feel like I was safe from trouble until I passed out in my bed when I got home.

We reached Millie's apartment and the music could still be heard which made me freeze up a little.

"Relaaaaaax." Jessica advised, drawing out the "a" and put an arm around my shoulder, as she walked in without even knocking.

I looked around at the scenes before me. Nothing too out of control, probably only about thirty people, most of which I had met at least once. As the penthouse was mostly open space and quite large it was more than spacious enough to accommodate all the guests.

"Okay I feel a lot more at ease now, but at the same time I'm disappointed it's not like those kind of drunken teen parties in movies." I pouted.

"Whilst I completely agree with you, sorry babe this is NYC and not suburbia Jersey nowhere. No offense to your Hoboken roots and stuff." Jessica stated.

"I was like two when we moved to The Hat. None taken. I'll always consider this place my roots and my home, no matter where life takes me." I responded and dropped my smile as soon as Jessica bounded off to greet people.

Manhattan was the greatest place in the world and I wouldn't trade this life for anything. But at the same time I was envious of my father over a thousand miles away enjoying the peacefulness and warm weather of Miami.

I also had a craving to one day attend a house party like one in the movies. Red plastic cups, front yard littered with trash, people passed out in the backyard, god knows what in the pool, people throwing up upstairs and the entire downstairs area being converted to a dance floor except the kitchen which had been converted into a bar. This however made no sense as even just this party I was attending now made me nervous. But the "movie style" party to me represented freedom. Just for one night I could be a normal teen, not Detective Caine's teenage daughter.

Then I remembered Mike's advice of saving that stuff for college, which made me smirk as I followed off after Jessica.

"Yeaaaaahhhhh!" I screamed in victory, as I high fived Jessica.

We had somehow been winning at Beer Pong intoxicated, getting in this state from losing the first few rounds. It had gotten to a point where people were handing us their drinks, as they could drink no more.

We were up against two guys before, and in an attempt to be flirty Jessica agreed to drink their drinks if they gave us their ties. Therefore we looked super cool as she had a tie loosely around her neck whilst I fastened mine around my head, with the tie bit to the side.

"Alright, I can't take anymore." Jessica said to me, collapsing onto a couch.

I took a seat next to her, also dramatically falling into it. The two guys from before, Pierre (the one sweet on Jessica) and Robert (the one trying with me) sat on either side of us.

"Take note of this song and band, they're the new Nirvana but they're going to be bigger. Trust me." Pierre proudly stated.

This was another reason why I felt uncomfortable about these two. This Pierre guy had a father who was high up at a record company so Millie let him have control over the music all night and was bragging about all the artists he supposedly knew.

"They're called Green Day. Pretty sweet." Robert added on.

Jessica only gave me a sour look as she pulled me to my feet.

"We have somewhere else to be!" She loudly stated, storming out of the apartment before even saying goodbye to anyone.

I grinned sheepishly amused at how drunk she was. However I knew I had to attend to her as soon as possible before she got into some kind of trouble.

"Nice to meet you both, want your tie back?" I said to the two guys but directed my last question to Robert.

"Keep it as something to remember me by." He winked, and I sent him a weak smile, turning and scampering away before I could roll my eyes and mutter 'whatever'

I couldn't find Jessica in the hallway leading up to the penthouse, and just as panic set in the elevator sent out a loud 'ding' and Jessica was inside grinning.


	9. Chapter 9

"Green Day? What kind of a band name is Green Day? I bet they suck!" Jessica loudly exclaimed for the hundredth time on the walk back to mine.

It was about a forty-five minute walk that was fun sober but painful in this state. To make it even worse Jessica was a lot more intoxicated than I was, so she was stumbling around. She had also attempted to hitch hike a few times, luckily only one car had stopped and I was able to quickly pull her away.

However she was now at it again and a car had just pulled up alongside us. She was obviously remembering that I was able to pull her away the last time, so she jumped in the backseat instantly. I growled and opened the passenger door enough so the driver would hear me.

"I swear to god if you take her ANYWHERE I'll be going to the nearest police station and reporting you for kidnapping… our fathers are police officers!" I warned the driver, baring my teeth in complete anger.

"So was mine, should I report you for underage drinking?" I heard a familiar voice tease back.

"Oh fuck that! Thanks but no thanks Logan." Jessica sourly stated, opening her backseat door as I opened the passenger seat door further.

"Jessica, don't even think about it. Emma, shut the hell up and get in." Mike ordered using a tone full of authority.

I didn't like being spoken to like that, but it worked as Jessica shut her door and fastened her seatbelt, whilst I threw my bag onto the floor of the car and heavily sat down on the passenger seat, crossing my arms as Mike then continued down the road.

Jessica either forgot Mike's annoyance or had no qualms about it as she started her drunken chatter.

"So what brings you out this late on a Saturday night? Booty call? You devil, you." Jessica asked, breaking out into hysterical laughter at her comment.

"No, I got called out to investigate a murder with your father. We did all the questioning we could for tonight, the rest is up to the Crime Scene Unit until tomorrow." Mike replied in a flat tone, obviously unimpressed with Jessica's assumption.

"Ooooh, was it a guy? Was he hot?" Jessica asked and I groaned and put my head against the window.

As I sobered up more I was growing more tired and had less patience to deal with Jessica being a drunken moron and Mike being a general dick.

* * *

In what felt like forever but in reality was only a short drive we ended up outside my apartment block. Jessica was now ranting to Mike about this "new" Green Day band and why they would fail.

I still had my eyes closed up until this moment, but judging by Mike's grunts as replies he was less than impressed.

I opened my eyes to see Jessica sprint out of the car in the general direction of my apartment block. I only groaned, but took off my seat belt.

This would all soon be over. I was minutes away from being able to pass out on my bed. The only obstacle in my way was to get Jessica up the stairs, however she seemed just as keen as I was as she was attempting to open the locked front door to the complex.

I turned to thank Mike for the car ride home however he wasn't in his seat. Still a bit confused and dazed from the alcohol in my system I blinked in confusion. Where did he go?

My question was answered moments later when he opened the car door next to me.

"Thanks, but I could have done that myself." I scowled, swatting his hand away as I exited the car.

"You women complain these days there are no gentlemen, but go on a feminist tirade when someone tries to be one. Jeeze." Mike complained to me as we began walking towards the entrance to my apartment block.

"Shouldn't you go help Jessica? She's the one in dire need of assistance right now." I stated to Mike.

It was a valid statement. Jessica right now was confessing her love to the door and was kissing it.

"Yeah, I probably should be. But I happen to be more fond of you so I'd rather make sure you're okay." Mike replied.

"Oooh, Lennie won't be too pleased to hear that you prefer Detective Caine's daughter over his own" I joked, as we were a few feet away from Jessica.

"Actually I'm more worried about your father. If he was around and heard me say that out of context he'd draw certain conclusions and I don't think he'd be too happy." Mike frowned.

"Meh, don't worry about that. He's out of town, in Miami in fact. Over a thousand miles away," I replied, deciding to skip any jokes, as I was too tired to care.

"So no one is in your apartment right now? Give me your keys, I want to make sure you're both okay when you go in." Mike replied.

I glared at him, but sighed and passed him my set of keys. If he could help me get Jessica upstairs a lot faster I was all for it and I did not have the energy to argue with someone who was appearing stubborn.

Mike said nothing as he opened the door to the complex, but he grabbed Jessica by the arm and roughly pulled her up the stairs as quickly as possible. I went to follow behind them but Mike grabbed my hand with his spare one.

"I'm not some fucking little kid, stop treating me like one." I hissed, pulling my hand away.

I felt a little bad almost immediately, especially as he didn't retort with some sarcastic remark as he usually would. But my grievances from before had bottled up and it had all erupted at once. Besides, he was the one who decided to help us out, we didn't beg him. How dare he act like we were two year olds.

I informed him which apartment was the one I lived in, and keeping a firm grip on Jessica he opened up my apartment door with my keyset I had given him moments before when he opened the complex door.

He then finally let go of Jessica who ran into the apartment as Mike handed me back my set of keys.

"Well thanks guys, but I'm too tired so I'm going to hit the hay. Goodnight!" She stated dramatically, closing my apartment door keeping both Mike and I outside.


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm just going to chill out here for a few minutes. She'll tire herself out and pass out." I said to Mike.

"Alright, that gives us time to talk." Mike said to me.

I only cocked my head to the side in confusion, unsure what he would need to discuss with me. Before I could even reply, Jessica's voice was heard from the apartment.

"Hey! I lost my virginity on this couch!" Jessica loudly exclaimed, to which Mike raised his eyebrows at me.

"Um, that statement is true. But that's not what you wanted to talk about…" I mumbled, suddenly feeling nervous.

"No. I don't really care to discuss about how Jessica and yourself lost your virginities." Mike snorted in reply.

"Um, I don't have one of those stories. I'm still a virgin." I responded, feeling my face heat up in embarrassment.

It was a sore topic for me. I was pretty much the only one out of my group of friends that was still a virgin. No one teased me about it, except Jessica in a joking manner. It was still embarrassing that in those conversations I was always the listener and not the contributor. I still refused to bow down to peer pressure, when it was the right time I'd know. If I wanted to I could easily find some creepy guy, date him for two weeks and then have sex with him but I held some class. I knew I was better than that.

"Well I assumed non existent sex stories also was covered in my blanket statement but I guess I need to be a little clearer." Mike sarcastically retorted.

I felt my cheeks go rosy again, but seconds later my embarrassment melted away and was replaced with anger. I was proud of my achievement, how dare he undermine me!

"Look, I just wanted to apologise about how I've been speaking to you tonight. I got woken up to attend that crime scene so I wasn't peachy keen to begin with, and I guess I became a control freak because you were both drunk. I lost my patience with Jessica yet it seems you were the recipient. I'm sorry the way things turned out tonight." Mike said to me quietly, his normal loud and sarcastic manner now absent.

I then started to feel bad. He had gone out of his way to make sure Jessica and I got home safely. Looking after two drunken eighteen year olds wasn't an easy task. My semi-drunk state had caused me to overreact to every action tonight. I now felt really bad that I could now realise Mike's kindness. Before I could reply he continued speaking.

"I don't think you're like a little kid. In fact, I kind of wish I did. The way I see you is kind of… wrong." Mike stated, pausing for a few moment whilst he found a word to complete his sentence with.

"What do you mean?" I asked, biting my lip nervously. It's never a good conversation when someone refers to you as wrong.

Mike sighed, as if expecting me to ask but hoping I wouldn't.

"I can't help but find myself attracted to you. You don't seem like a kid to me at all, you're quite pretty and you can hold up a conversation." Mike stated almost cringing, and I could tell he really didn't want to have this conversation.

I pressed on however; as I knew this would be my only chance to get all the information from him.

"How is that wrong?" I pouted, curious as to what his answer would be.

"Don't give me that sad look. I think we've established that I don't think there's anything wrong with you. There's just a social stigma attached to a thirty-two year old male attracted to an eighteen-year-old high school senior. It would also frowned upon at the station, especially considering your father works there." Mike sighed.

"Look, I have a solution. I'll kiss you now because I can get away with it. Then we can pretend this conversation never happened. Everybody wins!" I suggested, giggling madly at my exaggeration at the end.

"Whoa, I've never been offered sympathy action before and I'm not going to start accepting it now. Thanks, but no thanks" Mike sneered and I could tell he was genuinely offended.

"No, I want to. I really do. Call me a typical female but I think your whole mysterious demeanour is hot, as well as your looks in general. But mostly I like that you treat me as an equal." I smiled.

I had no idea what I was saying until it all came out. I guess I always thought he was good looking but I never let it cross my mind for more than two seconds until now. But now that he had apologised and recognised for the way he spoke down on me, I truly recognised that he was one of very few, especially who worked with my dad who treated me like a young adult and not someone to talk down to. Plus I was also flattered that he found me attractive.

He ran his hands through his hair, and it was the first time I saw him with a more natural hairstyle, as opposed to the neat-gelled look he wore to work. It suited him; it gave him more of a rugged edge that suited his height and build, as well as facial features.

He then let out a heavy sigh.

"You know what? I'm willing to try anything to help me get over this little crush of mine. It's like I'm a school girl, you're rubbing off on me." He stated, but sent me a little smile at the end.

"I um…alright. Is this going to be a peck, or this going to be a make out or what? I don't know what to prepare for." I stated, sending another pout to him as my face heated up from embarrassment.

"Aw come on, now you're making me just feel bad. Can't we just go with the flow?" Mike asked me.

I just smiled and nodded, before taking a step before him.

I shakily put my arms around his neck, as he confidentially put his arms around my waist. I had no idea why I was this nervous; I had nothing to lose and could just pretend I was so drunk I don't remember it happening. I was also the one who before tonight didn't have thoughts of Mike Logan being attractive.

I had kissed a few boys before, having a few make out sessions. I had received feedback from them – don't open your mouth too wide, control your breathing, don't slobber too much and the alike. But it was still nerve wracking, Mike was fourteen years my senior, so he had fourteen years experience on me.

My mind went completely blank however, when I went on my tippy toes to kiss him, grabbing his shoulders tightly to meet his kiss. I tried not to smile into the kiss, as I was scared he'd find it creepy, but I was in a giggly mood. I hadn't kissed a guy in months, and Mike Logan was probably the last person I would have expected to be locking lips with.

I didn't count the seconds but I would estimate that we were kissing for around thirty seconds before I was the one who pulled away; nervous he was bored of the action.

I was also the one who opened my eyes first, watching him take a few moments to drop his arms from my waist and to open his eyes. I waited for him to speak up, unsure of what to say next.

"So Jessica has quietened down now, I'm sure it's probably safe to go in and get some rest. You've had a big night." Mike said to me quickly after, snapping me out of my daze.

"Yeah! Of course. You've had a big night too, you'll probably have to get up fairly early to investigate the homicide from tonight." I nodded quickly, catching onto his quick exit.

"Yeah I do, I best be off. It was nice seeing you again Emma." Mike said to me, flashing me a genuine smile, which I returned.

"You too. I'll see you around I guess." I said to Mike.

Before I could back away into my apartment however, he lightly grabbed my face and engulfed me into a quick kiss, lasting only a few seconds before he pulled away and began to back off.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself if we're going to pretend it never happened after tonight. Enjoy the rest of your night, hope the hangover isn't too bad in the morning." Mike teased, sending me a grin as he reached the end of the stairwell about to begin his descent down.

I only gave him a smile and a wave as he disappeared. I then opened up my apartment and found Jessica snoozing on the couch, completely passed out.

I shrugged my shoulders and left her there. She'd be out for a while, and if she woke up she knew where the spare bedding was kept.

I shut my door, quickly stripped out of my party clothes and into my pyjamas as I fell onto my bed.

It was only then that I let out a loud giggle, and smiled widely to myself.

Half an hour ago I did not think anything more than platonically about Mike. But after what just happened, it was hard not to think romantically of him.

I just couldn't get too obsessed. I could be giggly and the schoolgirl that I was now, but then I'd have to move on. We both agreed that we'd kiss tonight to get it out of Mike's system. Nothing could ever come of it, and even if they could I wouldn't want them to due to the big age difference.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning when I fluttered my eyes open I was confused for a moment. I remembered getting home and the alike I just did not remember falling asleep. I giggled to myself as I ran my hands through my greasy hair and noticed my pyjamas were on backwards. I was in such a giddy mood last night; I had laughed myself to sleep.

I hauled myself out of bed and noticed I was more tired than hungover. I grabbed a pair of light plain blue jeans, a plain casual black shirt and a pink skate brand hoodie and headed to the bathroom.

I had to go through the lounge room to get the bathroom and I smirked to myself as I saw Jessica still heavily passed out on the couch.

After showering, blow-drying my hair straight and getting changed I studied my appearance in the mirror.

Apparently I looked more like my mother than my father, but when I look at photos of her I feel like I don't really look like either.

I, like my uncle Raymond had missed out on the alleged flaming red hair Caine gene and had golden brunette locks instead. I did however have the Irish pale skin with a few freckles lightly scattered around my nose, which had failed to fade away in my youth. My mother and father both shared the same eye colour, which was passed onto me – blue.

Other than that I felt like I looked nothing like my mother. She was blonde, tall, thin and had beautiful porcelain like skin. She gave up the modelling career she was trying to launch when she fell pregnant with me apparently. I may have some similar facial features that you just couldn't tell from a photo.

I then smiled to myself. Mike thought I was attractive. I had never had a real issue in attracting the opposite sex before, but it felt different to hear it from Mike as opposed to eighteen-year-old boys. It felt more genuine to hear it from a respected member of society.

After applying my make up I decided to go wake Jessica as the morning was now definitely getting on.

"Wakey wakey" I snorted as I shook her awake.

She sent out a small groan but immediately sat up which indicated to me that she was already awake, or at least her sleeping wasn't very deep.

"I feel like shit and don't remember anything about last night after we beat those guys at beer pong and drank their drinks. Care to enlighten me?" Jessica asked, her question sounding more like a long drawn out moan.

"They came onto us, you got angry because they spoke about an upcoming band called Green Day and stormed out, then your dad's partner drove us home." I grinned.

"You mean Logan? How did that happen? Did he know we were drunk?" Jessica asked, her eyes opening wide.

"Kay, here's the plan. We have lots of bacon and eggs; dad buys them from the market and gets a good deal because he helped the stall keeper out once. So I shall make you bacon and eggs, then we'll go grab a cup of coffee and discuss last night." I proposed.

"Can I shower whilst you cook? I'm sure I look like a strung out crack whore." Jessica asked me.

I laughed and nodded, unsure of how to reply. She didn't look picture perfect, but I'm sure I looked like her when I first woke up, if not worse.

"I can't believe Logan drove us home when we were like that! Must have been because of dad. I hope he doesn't tell dad about that night!" Jessica squealed over her large mocha.

"Oh I have a feeling he won't." I smirked after taking a large sip of my skinny latte.

"…why?" Jessica asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"You can't tell anyone. No one at school, and especially not your dad." I demanded in a serious tone.

Jessica said nothing but crossed her heart and I laughed. She wouldn't tell anyone, but I liked the extra comfort.

"Um, when you passed out, Mike admitted he had a small crush on me and found me attractive and stuff. So we kissed…twice." I admitted, my face heating up.

Jessica's eyes widened in disbelief and I was glad she hadn't taken a sip of her mocha or she would have spat it out all over the table.

"What kind of kiss? Peck? Make out? Australian?" Jessica asked me.

"What the hell is an Australian kiss?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Like a French kiss…just down under!" she chortled and I decided to ignore her lame joke.

"I guess the first one was kind of a make out. We lightly kissed but it was for a little under a minute. The second one he grabbed me and kissed me for a few seconds before he ran off. It was definitely very different to any kiss I've ever had before." I informed Jessica.

"That's just…ew. I mean Logan is okay looking I guess, he's not hot though. He's kinda old though…" Jessica remarked.

"He's only five years older than Kurt Cobain, it's not like he's a grandfather!" I quickly defended, turning bright red again when I realised what I was doing.

"When you put it that way it doesn't seem so bad I guess. I forgot that he's still a fairly young and new detective, considering his other two partnerships got cut short because they got shot." Jessica said to me.

"Really? I had no idea. Poor guy, that would really mess you up." I commented.

"Yeah, I forgot their names, your dad would have been working there at the time though and would know about them. The first one was killed outside his house by some low life; the other was only wounded during a raid. But look at you, getting all defensive and sympathetic. You have a crush." Jessica remarked proudly, adding a grin at the end of her remark.

"Whatever, think what you want. We both agreed to kiss and that be it. Maybe if situations were different like I wasn't in high school, or my dad wasn't a detective in the same precinct than maybe you could come to that conclusion." I stated, wrinkling my nose.

"Aw, forbidden love. I feel you there. I tried to talk to that Ryan guy but he totally brushed me off." Jessica complained.

I secretly rolled my eyes but then began to comfort her.

I was glad I had now gotten that out of the way. I had drunkenly kissed her dad's thirty-two year old partner. The problem was though that I definitely would have done it sober, and if I had the possibility I'd probably do it again.


	12. Chapter 12

I was surprised later on that night to find the apartment warm, with the aroma of cooking hitting my nostrils. I found dad cooking in the kitchen and a huge smile hit my face.

"Hey, you're back early." I beamed as I set my bag onto the kitchen bench.

"Hi sweetie. Yep, Hawthorne called me at MDPD. Apparently Briscoe and Logan got called to a homicide last night. This means their case load is enormous, as is every other detective's load. He warned me that Van Buren may beg me to come home early in case anything comes up, so it was probably best to make arrangements early." Dad stated.

"Why were you at MDPD if you went to Miami to visit Uncle Raymond, Aunty Yelina and Ray junior?" I smiled, knowing I had now caught out his true intentions.

Noticing this, dad put his hands in the air as if embracing arrest and he matched my wide smile.

"You're a smart girl. I know you've been catching into all of this. I've cooked spaghetti bolognaise, and it's ready to be dished up. Take a seat at the table and we'll discuss everything." Dad said to me softly, cocking his head to the side which was a habit of his.

I only nodded in response and went to the table to take a seat. Shortly after dad came with two plates, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.

I began to feel increasingly nervous. I always pushed the thought of dad relocating to Miami to the back of my mind. It was something that would literally change the rest of my life and that seriously scared me considering I was only eighteen. But now I was faced with that confronting possibility. At least I had delicious food.

"So I'll be honest with you. I did have an offer for another undercover assignment, this time with the Bomb Squad. An old friend is the task leader." Dad informed me.

I only sent him a nod to show that I understood. I wanted all the facts before me as soon as possible.

"Just remember that you were my first worry. I told him you were now in senior year, so giving up the apartment for you to live with Jessica, Karen and her step dad was out of the question and you certainly couldn't relocate with me even if it was temporary. So they offered me accommodation, the rent for this apartment for you to live in while I was gone, an allowance plus a nice pay check too." Dad said to me.

My eyes widened in shock. It would only be temporary, plus that wasn't a bad deal. Last time Dad did undercover work for MDPD I was fourteen, so we had to move out and I had to live with Jessica and her mother for a few months. Then when dad finished his assignment we had to find a new apartment, which was a bit of an unnecessary hassle.

"However I didn't end up accepting the assignment. Last time I returned from that undercover assignment in Miami, Cragen was so relieved. He told me that the day I leave NYPD will be a sad day for New York. Then Hawthorne called and said Van Buren needed me. It confirmed that at least right now I'm required in New York, no matter what pay Miami-Dade Police Department may offer me." Dad informed me.

I then broke out my biggest smile all day. I was so proud of the hunger for justice that my dad had. With cops, there were usually only two categories, good or bad. But even the good cops could become unmotivated and lazy, which in turn affects performance. Not dad though – just pursuing the course of justice and taking bad guys off the street was enough motivation for him. He was a rare breed, that was for sure.

"So now that is out of the way and we've established that I'll be staying in New York…what did you get up to today?" Dad asked me.

"Jessica and I got coffee and then went to the skate park. Jessica is having issues with her current crush so she dragged me to the skate park to help her find a new one. Didn't work." I giggled.

"Oh dear, is it the one in Queens you used to always go to when she had a boyfriend there?" Dad asked me.

"Nah we stopped going to Queens altogether when Jessica and Shane broke up. She's too scared she'll run into him so we went to-" I began to explain, but the phone ringing cut me off.

I sent dad a sympathetic look. It was pretty obvious who was calling at this time of night. Dad did have many friends, acquaintances and contacts and our phone was quite busy. But considering the time of night and the fact that he was expecting Van Buren to call, it was obvious that it was most probably going to be her.

"We'll finish this conversation soon, okay?" Dad asked me.

I nodded, and began to eat slowly. If I put my fork down it'd be too obvious I was eavesdropping, but if I continued to eat at the pace I was eating at I wouldn't be able to hear the conversation. I was curious.

"Caine residence, Horatio speaking." Dad answered formally.

"No, it's no problem at all. I returned early because I know you've been stating that every detective team have too many cases at the moment. When Roger told me that the last case went to Briscoe and Logan, I knew we'd be called to the next one. So I'm not fussed in the slightest I had to come home early." I heard dad state.

There was silence for a few moments, obviously whoever was on the other end of the phone was speaking.

"Not a problem. I'll go down to the precinct now, and I'll give you a call at home later tonight, or if it's too late I'll speak to you tomorrow at the precinct. Please try and enjoy your family dinner." Dad said, before saying goodbye to the person on the other line and then hanging up.

"That was Anita. There's been a homicide, both Roger and I have been called in. I'm really sorry that our dinner needs to be cut short. I can't say when I'll be back, but we'll have another dinner sometimes soon, okay?" Dad said to me.

I only nodded, as I began twirling the spaghetti around my plate with my fork.

I wasn't mad, I was used to my father being called away on short notice when a homicide, rape or another serious case had been called in. It also got a little easier with time as I learned to anticipate it and make the most of the time I had with him. It still sucked, though.

I guess I was also worried that Lennie and Mike would be at the precinct working on one of their cases, and I was worried how Mike would now act around my father.

I grabbed my dad's coat and keys for him, to which he thanked me as he walked out.

Sighing, I went over and turned on the tv as I took the two plates to the kitchen sink. Dad's was still half full, so I put it into a plastic container in the fridge. I then began on the dishes in the sink.

I felt sorry for my father; because of his job he never had time for any romances. He had been seeing a few women since my mother died but nothing ever really blossomed due to his work schedule. Nothing had even become serious enough for me to meet them.

At least the kids at my school who had big shot businessmen, or lawyers as dads who were always busy had nice incomes coming in.

I guess the pursuit and application of justice was considered a good income for my father, and I smiled proudly as I began putting the dishes away.


	13. Chapter 13

Life slowly began to go back to normal after that weekend. All anyone could talk about for a few days afterwards was Millie's party. Jessica and I contributed to the talk, after all we did attend the party and nothing that dodgy happened during the party. It's only the events that happened afterwards that were to remain a secret.

Speaking of which, no one had uttered a word about it. Jessica and I hadn't even spoken about it since the day after, and I'm assuming Mike didn't tell anyone as no unnecessary drama had come up.

All in all life was back to how it was before I kissed Mike, and the small crush I had began to harbour had now fizzled out. Back to my studies.

It was now unfortunately a Monday again. The only thing that could make it worse was the fact that it was Valentines Day – or "Hallmark day" as I liked to refer to it as.

I didn't even have a problem with people splurging money on someone to say "Hey, I don't really want to spend this much on you but I feel obliged to just for this one day" like the morons they were. No, I hated how public everyone made everything, in order to try and one up everyone else. Girls giggling and bragging about how much their boyfriends spent in order to compete, and guys doing everything as public as possible in order to be all macho. Barf.

Jessica was also driving me insane today too. It was the first time since we were probably twelve that she didn't at least have some kind of date lined up, she usually at least had something platonic as a fall back plan. All she could do was whine as she saw girls around school carrying around roses. I was already feeling enough nausea, hearing her whining was not helping my mood.

I had planned to go to the precinct after school in order to have some winding down time with my dad. He was working on a particularly difficult rape case, and I needed to hand deliver him some food. I also needed to bitch about Valentines Day with someone. My dad wasn't as strongly opposed to Valentines Day as me; his stance was that you should treat your significant other special no matter what day it was. He was open to my pessimism about the day however.

I was a little nervous about heading down to the 27th precinct, deathly afraid of running into Mike. I even found myself applying more makeup and getting changed into some decent clothes when I got home, just before I head out. I didn't know whether I was doing it because I still had a small crush on him or because I wanted to keep up my standard of him finding me attractive. Either way, I didn't think about it too much being scared of the answer.

I hadn't been down to the precinct since our little adventure; I guess I was avoiding Mike. I knew I was being ridiculous and it was now time to go down there. People would start getting suspicious considering how many times I usually go and visit dad, and if I were to face him well I'd have to face him again one day. It's better to treat it like removing a bandaid and get it over and done with as quickly as possible.

I went to the usual shop I bought dad's food from and ordered him a box of noodles, with lots of vegetables. I knew he wouldn't feel like a salad today so I'd get him something that at least had some goodness in it.

Then I made my way down the street into the precinct. I approached the front desk to talk to a uniformed officer about dad coming out, but a familiar detective had approached me first.

"Hi Emma, how are you?" the black haired, brown eyed Italian detective asked me.

"Hey Tony, not too bad thanks. Is dad around?" I asked him curiously, feeling a little shy as I didn't know Detective Profaci that well and had probably spoken to him less than five times in my entire life. I only really knew him by name, as he worked closely with the other detectives and was more of an assistant than an actual detective.

"I think he's questioning a potential suspect right now. You should come through, it's quite cold out here and I'm not sure how long he'd be." Tony offered.

"Come in? As in, sit in the squad room and wait for dad?" I frantically asked, then realising how suspicious I sounded and tried to play it cool.

I looked at my watch. 4:50PM. There was a high chance that Mike would still be in the squad room if he was not out in the field investigating something. I was more than happy to finally come face to face with him, but if dad wasn't there it might look like I was stalking him. Eep!

"Of course. You're allowed to come through, everyone knows who you are and it's not like the squad room is a top-secret facility or something. You can sit at your dad's desk whilst you wait." Tony said to me, as he began to lead me through the station.

I froze, but followed him through as if I was on autopilot. I couldn't think of an excuse not to fast enough, and because I was deathly afraid of looking suspicious I went with the flow.

I went through the door that lead to the squad room, and followed Tony through. I had been in here many times and knew where I was doing, however I usually just met with dad outside the main desk because it was easier for him to come out than me to manoeuvre through the busy police station.

I was then taken to the room where all the detectives worked. It looked a little like a regular office, however it was a lot more run down than a normal office thanks to the public funding. Each detective had a desk that had a plaque with their name on it, and usually messy, messy papers as they didn't have a lot of time to go through their paperwork.

As my eyes landed on my dad's desk, I noticed that even he had a few stray papers scattered across his desk. Before Tony could even motion for me to sit anywhere I took a seat at dad's desk, moving his papers into a neat pile as I put his food onto the desk.

I looked around, and on the other side of the room I saw two plaques that were facing each other – "Leonard Briscoe" "Michael Logan" and I sighed with relief as I realised they weren't in the room. Even if they come by later hopefully it's obvious I'm waiting for dad…

I was a little surprised when I saw Tony pull up a chair next to me, but thought he was just being polite and decided to extend the conversation. The more distractions from the fact that Mike may walk through that door, the better.

"So it's Valentines day isn't it? Pretty high schooler like you should have a date shouldn't she?" Tony asked me.

I then felt a little awkward again. I wasn't feeling uncomfortable because I thought he was being inappropriate or anything, but it felt a little awkward because I didn't know him that well and had to try and be polite, when I wanted to rant about today.

"I don't believe in that stuff." I smirked, smacking my hand onto the table to add a dramatic effect.

"Why? It's girls like you that usually lap it up." Tony stated.

I decided to let his 'girls like you' comment slide, but unleashed the rage about how much I hated today out.


End file.
